


In The Dust That Was A City

by NightSkyWriter



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Allison Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Angst, Ben Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Diego Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Hurt No Comfort, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Luther Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, So much angst, The Author Regrets Everything, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-07-11 16:36:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19931152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightSkyWriter/pseuds/NightSkyWriter
Summary: What if it wasn't Five who traveled forward to the apocalypse, but one of his siblings?





	1. Thought We Built A Dynasty That Heaven Couldn't Shake

**Author's Note:**

> Work title from "99 Red Balloons" by Nena  
> Chapter title from "Dynasty" by Miia

It was just another mission. This time, their opponent wasn’t a person but a thing. It was an experiment gone wrong.  
  
Luther stared at the tall, writhing wormhole. It swirled and sparked, glowing a blinding shade of blue.  
  
They were lucky. It was far enough away from town that people weren’t surrounding it.  
  
“Can we unplug it?” Klaus yelled over the hum of the machine. Luther sent him a look.  
  
“It’s not a hair dryer.” Luther shook his head. It was moments like this that he was reminded why he was Number One and not any of them.  
  
“No, Luther,” Five said. "He’s on to something." Five took a step closer to the machine.  
  
“Five, step back,” Luther ordered. Seriously, if Luther wasn’t there, they’d all get themselves killed. Five ignored him and just walked closer to it.  
  
Well, they may die _with _him there.__  
  
Luther sighed, and followed Five closer to it. He couldn’t stop Five, but he wasn’t going to let him be on his own either.  
  
Five circled it, getting too close for Luther’s comfort, and walked around behind it. If one of them got hurt, it was Luther’s fault, how did they keep missing this?  
  
“Five,” he snapped.  
  
“I can turn it off,” Five said, ignoring Luther’s complaints. His eyes scanned the machine. “But I need you to work with me.” He met Luther’s eye and Luther shook his head.  
  
“I’m Number One, Five. I give the orders.”  
  
“We don’t have time. Do you know what this is?”  
  
“A worm hole?”  
  
Five sighed. “It’s either a temporal anomaly or a miniature black hole. I don’t know what that scientist thought he was doing messing with this stuff. Point is, we need to shut it off before it becomes unstable.” Sparks flew from the machine and they both backed up. Five cast it a dark look. “Before it becomes _more _unstable. The only way is to cut the power. Klaus was right on that, at least.”__  
  
It sounded reasonable.  
  
“Okay.” Luther wanted to get away from it as soon as possible. “What do I need to do?”  
  
Five turned back to the machine.  
  
While the front was a mess of blue light, the back covered with intertwined cords and pipes that ran from it to the walls and into the ground. The thick metal seemed to conduct electricity to the front, creating the worm hole.  
  
“Grab this,” Five ordered, pointing to one of the pipes. He glanced around the machine at the others and yelled for them to back up. He turned back to Luther. “When I tell you, you need to take this off. You can’t hesitate. If we remove it at the wrong time, it’ll blow up, probably killing most of us.”  
  
Luther felt himself pale. He'd never met someone worse at boosting morale. Short, angry, pessimist.  
  
“I don’t know how this thing is going to react to be shut down, so be ready to move in case it goes wrong. Got it?” Five asked. Luther didn’t trust himself to speak, so he nodded. “Alright.” Five watched the machine and seemed to be counting. “Now!”  
  
Luther jerked on the pipe and it broke free of the metal.  
  
“GO, GO, GO!” Five yelled, shoving Luther’s shoulder.  
  
They ran back to the others, as the machine creaked behind them. Strings of curse words ran through Luther’s mind.  
  
Allison’s eyes widened when she saw them and she yelled for Diego, Klaus and Ben to run.  
  
Five appeared in front of the group in a flash of blue.  
  
The exit was in sight. Diego, Allison, Klaus and Ben were running ahead, and Luther didn’t dare look back.  
  
Five did.  
  
They locked eyes and Five muttered something unpleasant.  
  
Luther felt something tug against him and for a moment he thought it was Five. Then he flew off his feet, pulled back to the machine.  
  
The last thing he saw was Five appearing too late then the wormhole swallowed Luther. 

____

____

Dust puffed up around him as he landed with a thud. Luther coughed, blinking the sand from his eyes.  
  
The machine was gone as was the warehouse and – Luther looked around – everything else.  
  
The world around him was on fire. Rubble and trash littered the ground and ash fell from the sky.  
  
Luther frowned.  
  
“Dad?” He yelled. His voice echoed across the broken buildings before fading out. He didn’t see his siblings anywhere.  
  
He spun. The area was recognizable – it was right down from the academy.  
  
Luther turned and ran.  
  
He jumped over the fallen concrete and shattered glass, his feet hitting the ground in loud smacks. The hot air burned in his lungs and the ash coated his mouth, but he ignored it.  
  
Dad could help him. Dad would know where he was and—  
  
Luther skidded to a stop in front of the Academy. Or rather, what used to be the Academy.  
  
It was reduced to ruins just like everything else. Fires and smoke covered everything.  
  
Luther’s heart stuttered.  
  
No.  
  
“Dad!” He yelled, voice cracking. “Allison!”  
  
He ran into the collapsed remnants of the building.  
  
Everything was gone.  
  
He saw a body buried in the rubble and stumbled toward it.  
  
_Get yourself together _, he thought.__ He couldn’t afford the luxury of panic.  
  
The thought didn’t help.  
  
The body belonged to a young man, no older than thirty, crushed under the scraps of the Academy. He had a bloody eye clasped in a tight grip.  
  
He wore a dark suit and had dust-coated black hair. Something about him was familiar but wrong.  
  
Luther frantically tried to move the wreckage. It budged then lifted. Luther tossed it to the side and kneeled down beside the man. He wasn’t breathing and his skin was ashen.  
  
Luther looked up.  
  
A few yards away, another man with a scar across the side of his head was face down.  
  
Luther ran over and shook the man’s shoulders.  
  
“Please wake up. Please wake up.”  
  
When the man didn’t respond, Luther stood.  
  
A woman with curly hair was close and next to her a man with dark coat and a tattoo on his forearm.  
  
Luther blinked.  
  
It was a tattoo of an umbrella wrapped in a black circle.  
  
Luther blinked the moisture from his eyes and shook his head.  
  
No, no, no, no, no. These people were too old, much too old to be his – his siblings. _He was JUST with them! _No. His job was to protect them. They were fine. They had to be fine.__  
  
Luther’s knees gave out beneath him.


	2. Now We Are The Kids From Yesterday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from "Kids from Yesterday" by My Chemical Romance

Diego watched as Five and Luther disappeared behind the machine.  
  
It seemed to have its own gravity, pulling every light object into it’s gaping, blue mouth.  
  
Diego ducked as glass flew past his head from a desk and into the machine.  
  
He straightened, glancing over his shoulder.  
  
“Back up,” Diego ordered. He put his arms out in front of the others, keeping himself between Allison, Klaus and Ben and the...  
  
Diego didn’t know what to call the machine. Luther had called a wormhole, so he didn’t want to use the same term.  
  
Besides, if Luther came up with it, it was probably wrong.  
  
Five looked around the machine and yelled for them to back up.  
  
No shit, Sherlock.  
  
Diego started to take another step back anyway, when movement caught his attention. A person in a bulletproof vest walked towards Luther and Five, a pistol in hand.  
  
The scientist had warned them that people wanted his machine, but Diego hadn’t thought they get here so fast. It’d only been in meltdown a few minutes.  
  
Diego sprang forward. Two knives instantly in his hands, then gone just a quickly. They flipped, end over end, until they found their target in the woman’s chest.  
  
She fell back, dropping her gun.  
  
Diego glanced over to Luther and Five. A long tube from the machine was in Luther’s hand. It didn’t take him long to break it, did it?  
  
They both stared at Diego, wide eyed. Five was yelling at him, but Diego couldn’t hear anything over the machine’s hum.  
  
He just saved Number One.  
  
Dad would notice that. He’d have to rethink their numbers. He’d make Diego the leader.  
  
“Diego!” Klaus yelled.  
  
Diego looked over his shoulder. He was a lot further from them than he thought.  
  
Oh.  
  
Diego looked to the machine. It was glowing, getting brighter and brighter. It looked like it was about to explode.  
  
Shit.  
  
Diego turned and ran back toward Allison, Klaus and Ben.  
  
“Run!” Diego yelled. He didn’t know what Luther and Five had done, but the entire machine was going to blow.  
  
Ben was the first of the trio to get the memo. He grabbed Allison and Klaus by their jackets, pulling them to the exit.  
  
Diego felt the knives leaving his holsters and flying towards the blue worm– No. He would _not _call it a wormhole.__  
  
He ran faster.  
  
Ben stopped when he reached the door and yelled for Diego to hurry.  
  
Couldn’t he see Diego already was?  
  
Ben gaze flickered over Diego’s shoulder and he paled.  
  
The machine made an otherworldly screech and Diego felt it tug against him.  
  
No!  
  
His feet left the ground and the blue surrounded him. 

____

The air was knocked from his lungs when he hit the ground.  
  
Diego coughed, sending dust everywhere.  
  
Dust?  
  
He jumped to his feet. “Guys?” Diego asked.  
  
He didn’t see them anywhere, but that didn’t make sense. They were just there.  
  
The warehouse was gone too. The machine, the building, his siblings, everything. Everything was gone.  
  
His foot bumped something metal and he glanced down. His knives laid scattered at his feet. Diego picked them up and put them back where they belonged.  
  
“Guys?!” He called again. No one responded.  
  
Sand, ash and fire covered everything. Death covered everything.  
  
A spot of green caught his eye.  
  
Diego walked over to it, recognizing what it was before he got close.  
  
The green street sign read, Lamp Rd.  
  
He frowned. Lamp Rd. That was right down from the Academy.  
  
A quick spin helped him identify his surroundings. The collapsed buildings around him – they were just down the road from home.  
  
Diego turned on his heel and broke out in a run. He ran up piles of rubble and across roofs of cars.  
  
Soon he stopped in where the Academy should have been.  
  
The brick had crumbled along with everything else.  
  
Diego shook his head.  
  
It didn’t make sense! He’d just been in there. It’d been okay. Everything had been okay.  
  
Then that stupid machine.  
  
He stumbled over the fallen pieces of concrete, walking into the remains of the building. He wished Dad could see it. See what the Academy came to.  
  
But mostly, Diego didn’t want to be seeing it alone.  
  
“Mom?” Diego yelled. She could survive this, couldn’t she? She could survive everything. She was the strongest person he knew; if she couldn’t survive this no one could. “Mom?”  
  
Diego foot hit something soft and he looked down.  
  
It was a hand and it was holding an eye.  
  
Diego almost stumbled back.  
  
The eye was covered in blood.  
  
Diego looked away before he puked.  
  
He closed his eyes, centering himself. It didn’t matter. There was only so many breathing exercises he could do.  
  
He was in the remains of the Academy. His home.  
  
And all he could find was some dude holding an eye?  
  
After a moment he looked back at the man and carefully avoiding looking at the eye.  
  
Seriously, who dies holding an eye?  
  
Diego’s question was quickly answered.  
  
Giants.  
  
The man was huge. His shoulders were three times as wide as Diego – but then that wasn’t saying much – and most of his body was crushed under what looked like a fallen piece of the ceiling.  
  
Diego swallowed.  
  
The man was long dead.  
  
Diego stepped away from him and noticed someone else a short distance away.  
  
The next man was face down and considerably smaller than the giant. He wore a dark suit and blood had dried on his face.  
  
A girl was next, followed by a man in a long coat. Diego tilted his head.  
  
The man had ‘Goodbye’ tattooed across his hand in bold letters. Diego frowned. Klaus always talked about getting one like that.  
  
Another tattoo caught his attention. A tattoo of an umbrella wrapped in a black circle.  
  
Diego couldn’t breathe.  
  
The mans hair looked like Klaus – same curly hair, same thin frame, same horrible fashion taste.  
  
Diego couldn’t remember deciding to fall, but he was on his knees.  
  
He couldn’t think, he couldn’t breathe. If they were dead, so was he, cause he couldn’t feel his heart beating anymore.  
  
His hands shook and his ears were ringing.  
  
It didn’t make sense; it didn’t make sense.  
  
“Hello, Diego.”  
  
Diego spun, two knives already in hand. Everything was blurry and he blinked to clear it.  
  
“Oh!” She laughed. The sound was so wrong. How could she laugh? “No need for those. Not against me anyway.” The woman lifted a black veil from her face. She looked dressed for a funeral and had cigarette in her hand. “Who are you?” Diego demanded, surprised when his voice didn’t shake. “Where is my family?” He kept his knives ready to throw.  
  
“I am the Handler,” she said, taking a puff from her cigarette. She cast a look around. “And it seems you’ve already found them.”  
  
Diego’s heart plummeted. “What? No. Y-You’re wrong. These—”  
  
“I don’t think I am.”  
  
He didn’t know who this Handler was, but he already hated her.  
  
She glanced at the bodies Diego had already checked. She pointed to each of them in turn. “Luther, Five, Allison, Klaus.”  
  
Diego shook his head. “No. This isn’t them. My siblings are thirteen—”  
  
“Your siblings were thirteen. It’s 2019, Diego. Year of the apocalypse.” She said the word apocalypse with a smile.  
  
“It-it’s 2002.”  
  
“Where you came from, perhaps, but not here. That scientist created quite the machine. But time travel—” She tilted her head, giving Diego a pitying look he could tell was fake “—it never goes right.” She took another drag of her cigarette and extended her hand to Diego. “You wanna get out of here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I have this headcanon that the Handler would want different Hargreeves (like Diego and Five) because of their abilities, but if she picked them up pre-apocalypse, it'd mess up the timeline. SO she waits and in this fic, she gets what she wants. (Also, she let didn't Diego wait in the apocalypse like Five because Diego was already the person she needed when he showed up. Diego always wanted to please, while Five was desperate enough after decades in the apocalypse to do whatever was necessary.)
> 
> And just in case it isn't obvious, these one shots cover different Hargreeves going to the apocalypse like Five did. Variables in the mission involving a time machine cause different siblings to go forward in time. Yes, I know Five didn't use a time machine, but the others powers don't include time-travel so an author has to make due.
> 
> Thank you for reading!!! <3
> 
> Next Chapter: Allison goes to the apocalypse.


	3. Where Worlds Collide and Days are Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from "Skyfall" by Adele  
> (Love that song!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to take a moment to thank two people who have really helped me out on this fic -  
> 'L' who has read all of my fics and been a great supporter. I admit I'm not always sure about the quality of what I post, lol, but your enthusiasm and encouragement has kept me writing these fics even when I wasn't so sure about them.  
> Hujwernoo for being so sweet. Every comment inspires me and your kindness never fails to make me smile ❤️❤️❤️  
> The feedback the two of you have offered has really helped me write this fic. Thank you both so much! I hope you enjoy <3  
> Hujwernoo has some really great TUA fics posted that you should _definitely _check out!__

Allison ignored the feeling in her gut that told her to call Luther and Five back. They wouldn’t listen and over the hum of the machine, they probably wouldn’t even hear her.  
  
“Back up,” Diego said from beside her. Allison barely kept herself from shooting him a glare. He wasn’t Number One, he didn’t get to dish out orders. She, Klaus and Ben backed up anyway.  
  
She kept her gaze focused on where Luther and Five had disappeared. They were right behind the machine, she knew that, but that didn’t help the uneasy feeling with them being out of her sight. She didn’t like this mission. It felt off.  
  
“Uh, Allison,” Diego said. She looked up.  
  
A group of people, scientists, were filing into the room from a room they hadn’t checked. The cops said they’d cleared the place!  
  
Allison rolled her eyes and started towards the people.  
  
“Excuse me,” she called. A few of the people looked up. “I’m not sure if you noticed, but there is a bit of a problem. If you could just exit out the back—”  
  
“Allison,” Ben said. She glanced back at them. “Just Rumor them.”  
  
She rolled her eyes. She barely heard Five yelling something, but she was too close to the machine to understand. Diego, Klaus or Ben could take care of whatever he needed – she was busy.  
  
“ _I heard a Rumor all of you left the building, staying away from the machines. _” The scientists eyes turned silver and they all started to walk out.__  
  
Allison massaged her temples – single people were easy but groups as large as that one were energy consuming.  
  
“Allison! Come on!”  
  
Allison looked up at the trio she’d left.  
  
Why were they looking at her like that?  
  
The machine decided to answer her question.  
  
The glowing grew brighter and it shrieked.  
  
Allison’s eyes widened.  
  
Before she could move, the machine pulled her in.

____

Allison couldn’t tell up from down as she spun through the blue void. It twisted and warped around her.  
  
It almost looked like the place in between Five’s jumps. He didn’t bring her with him often, but sometimes missions and training called for it. She only ever saw it for a millisecond. There and gone before she could concentrate enough to really study it.  
  
The blue opened up and she fell, hitting the ground with a painful thud.  
  
Allison gasped in surprise and instantly regretted it. The single breath had the sand and ash that covered the ground coating her lungs. She rolled on to her back coughing.  
  
Dust? Ash?  
  
Allison ripped her mask off and looked around.  
  
She almost preferred the inside of that machine.  
  
Everything around her was destroyed. It looked like the pictures of towns after bombs and natural disasters.  
  
She scrambled to her feet.  
  
“Luther!” She yelled. The only reply was the crackle of the flames. She spun. “Luther!”  
  
The machine. What did that stupid machine do??  
  
She’d seen it. It’d looked like it was about to explode. Had it?  
  
Even if it had, that didn’t explain what was around her. They would have known if it could do something like this.  
  
And even if it had blown up, that didn’t explain where she was. She recognized her surroundings. It wasn't too far away from where the mission had been.   
  
Allison took off at a run.  
  
She barely noticed the rocks and rubble as she vaulted over it. She had one goal, one target.  
  
Home.  
  
Dad would understand. He and Five or even Ben would have some idea of what this place was.  
  
Allison stopped.  
  
The Academy was…gone.  
  
Allison stumbled back.  
  
How? How could it be gone?  
  
“Luther!” She yelled. “Guys!”  
  
No. It wasn’t right. She was seeing things. The machine, it’d exploded, and she’d just hit her head. She’d wake up any minute. Any minute.  
  
Before she could stop herself, Allison was walking through the cracked archway.  
  
“Mom?” She whispered. Mom was constant. She was always there. Even in this- this hellscape of a dream Mom would still be there. “Mom?”  
  
Something sticking out of the rubble caught her attention. She walked towards it, steeling herself for whatever it would be.  
  
Allison frowned and did a double take.  
  
It was a hand holding an…eye?  
  
Before she thought twice about it, she pried it away from the hand.  
  
The eye was made of glass and covered in blood.  
  
She’d seen blood plenty of times during missions. On her, on her siblings – Ben especially – and on the people they fought. Her experience didn’t make it any less gross, but she kept it together.  
  
Why would some person die in the Academy while holding an eye?  
  
She peered over the rock at the man.  
  
He was huge. She’d seen body builders and athletes in her magazines, but none of them were close to the size of him.  
  
Allison backed away and made her way over to another body.  
  
He was dressed in all black and he had a long scar across his head. Through the dust and trash that covered him, she could see he wore a holster looked like the one Diego used for his knives.  
  
Allison leaned down next to him and pushed the trash off.  
  
It was just like the one Diego wore. Even the few knives left in his holster looked like Diego’s.  
  
“Diego?” Allison whispered. She shook the man’s shoulders. “Diego!”  
  
Allison stood, stumbling back.  
  
Another man a distance off wore a dark suit. It looked expensive like the one’s dad wore. Like the ones Five liked.  
  
Allison shook her head.  
  
No. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t.  
  
The last body belonged to man in a coat with a fur lined collar. It was ugly. He had a tattoo on his forearm.  
  
Allison knew what it was even though her vision was blurring.  
  
She knelt back down beside the man that looked too much like Diego. Too much like her brother.  
  
“Wake up! Please wake up! I heard a Rumor you woke up. I heard a Rumor you didn’t…I heard a Rumor you weren’t dead. WAKE UP!” She yelled. Tears were falling freely down her cheeks.  
  
She leaned away from him, a choked sob escaping her lips.  
  
“No. No!” She screamed the word even though there was no one to hear her.  
  
The scientist had told them it was a time machine, but everyone laughed him off. He was wrong. He had to be wrong. He had to be.  
  
“I heard a Rumor I went back. I heard a Rumor I went back to my family.”  
  
Allison shook her head.  
  
Luther was behind her, crushed under rubble. Diego, Five, Klaus were all in front of her. They were dead. They were gone. How could they be gone? She’d just been with them. Gone, gone, gone.  
  
Allison stopped rocking and untangled her fingers from her hair.  
  
No, not all of them.  
  
Ben. Ben and Vanya. They weren’t there.  
  
“Ben!” She yelled, staggering to her feet. “Vanya!”  
  
She spun in circles. They had to be there. They had to be.  
  
“I’m afraid you aren’t going to find them,” a cheery voice called.  
  
Allison spun.  
  
The woman hadn’t been there seconds ago.  
  
Every bone in Allison body told her to run. Every cell screamed danger as she considered the woman.  
  
She wore all black and held a briefcase at her side. She waved her free hand.  
  
“Hi, Allison.”  
  
“Who are you?”  
  
The woman took a drag from her cigarette and smiled. “I’m the Handler.”


	4. Lost Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from "Lost Boy" by Ruth B  
> WARNING: This chapter goes into injuries and gore a bit more because Klaus can see dead people, so, y'know. Be warned and what not.  
> Enjoy!!

He should have known the Scientist was already dead. His lab coat was covered in blood and Klaus had even seen his body as the medics took him away. It didn’t matter.  
  
Klaus watched Luther and Five approach the machine and rolled his eyes. Of course, Five would want a closer look. Time travel – Five’s biggest fascination. And Luther following, that was a given.  
  
Klaus shook his head and glanced down at his nails. The blue polish was chipping already. Oh well. Guess he’d just have to paint them again after the mission. Klaus smiled. Maybe the day wouldn’t be a waste after all.  
  
Klaus turned to Diego.  
  
“How much longer do you think this is going to take?” He asked. Diego either ignored him or didn’t hear him. Considering how loud the machine was, the latter made sense.  
  
Klaus sighed and looked back to where Five and Luther had disappeared.  
  
That’s when he saw him.  
  
The Scientist.  
  
He looked lost; his eyes distant. Klaus elbowed Allison and pointed.  
  
“You’re up.”  
  
She gave Klaus a look. _What? ___  
  
Klaus pointed again.  
  
Allison looked where he was pointing but didn’t react. Why did she insist on being difficult?  
  
That’s it. He was definitely using her favorite polish when they get back to the house.  
  
The Scientist was getting close to the machine. Too close.  
  
“Sir!” Klaus yelled.  
  
“What are you doing?” Diego demanded as Klaus pushed past him. If they weren’t going to help the Scientist, Klaus would.  
  
“Sir, please step away from the glowing thing-a-ma-jig,” Klaus said, nearing the Scientist.  
  
“What happened?” The Scientist asked, looking away from the machine. Klaus gave him a look.  
  
“I really have no idea. But you need to leave. It isn’t safe.”  
  
“Klaus, get your scrawny ass back over here!” Diego yelled. Klaus ignored him.  
  
The machine started glowing brighter. Everything in him told Klaus to run, but he couldn’t leave this man.  
  
_Why weren’t the others helping him out? ___  
  
Klaus glanced at the machine warily. It was going to explode. He didn’t have time for this.  
  
“I’m sorry, sir,” Klaus muttered. He reached for the Scientist’s arm. If he would come on his own, Klaus would help him.  
  
Klaus’s hand went through the Scientist’s arm.  
  
“Klaus!”  
  
He tried again. The Scientist glowed blue for a second as Klaus’s hand past through.  
  
The machine’s whirring had grown to a roar.  
  
_Shit! ___  
  
Klaus turned on his heel and ran back towards the others.  
  
Luther and Five were with them– when had they gotten there?  
  
Ben’s eyes widened. “No!”  
  
There was a slight tug around Klaus’s waist then the machine pulled him in.  
  
  
  
  
  
Just as soon as it’d sucked him in, the machine spat him back out.  
  
He hit something and glass cracked beneath him.  
  
He pushed himself up slightly and glanced down at the spiderweb lines in the glass. A windshield?  
  
It gave, and Klaus fell into the car with an _oof _.__  
  
“What the hell?” He whispered, sitting up.  
  
The vehicle was one of many, bumper to bumper and covered in dust and ash. Everything was covered in dust, ash and the occasional fire.  
  
Klaus shook his head.  
  
The machine, warehouse, his siblings – it was all gone.  
  
A few yards away, a woman walked down the street. Her dress was torn and dirty and her hair loose, but she didn’t seem fazed by the world around them.  
  
Klaus crawled back out of the vehicle. Glass bit into his hands and he felt blood from the windshield cuts on his face.  
  
Poor woman. He going to be such a weird sight for her.  
  
“Hey, lady?” Klaus said. “Do you know where—”  
  
The woman turned, and the words died in Klaus’s throat.  
  
Her skin was charred, and blood covered the front of her dress.  
  
Klaus stumbled back. The woman didn’t move, just watched as he hurried away.  
  
When the woman was out of sight, Klaus did a quick survey of his surroundings.  
  
There wasn’t a person in sight. Well, there wasn’t a _living _person in sight.__  
  
Bodies were scattered under rubble and in vehicles. Most were burnt.  
  
Klaus tripped over something a looked down.  
  
The burnt and broken remains of a metal gate laid at his feet. An umbrella was woven into the center.  
  
Klaus looked up at what was once a building. Now it was just a crumpled heap of brick and concreate. It was nothing. It was trash.  
  
It was supposed to be home.  
  
Out of the corner of his eye, Klaus saw a man with a bullet hole in his forehead. He ignored the ghost and walked through the cracked archway of the Academy.  
  
“Ben?” He yelled. “Diego?”  
  
His voice echoed before fading away.  
  
A body stuck out of the rubble nearby, but this one was- this man had been a giant.  
  
Klaus couldn’t stop himself from walking over.  
  
The man was buried under pieces of the academy and held something in his hand.  
  
Klaus took a closer look at the…eye?  
  
He pried it out of the mans death grip.  
  
The glass eye was slick with blood.  
  
Klaus frowned and dropped the eye in his pocket before climbing over the rubble to get closer to the guy.  
  
Klaus tapped his face.  
  
“Hey, man. You alive in there?”  
  
The man was cold to the touch. He stepped away from the dead giant.  
  
Close by was another guy. He had black hair with a long scar.  
  
A nearby ghost hobbled over to Klaus, momentarily stealing Klaus’s attention. The ghost had bones sticking out of one of his legs and his jaw was broken.  
  
That didn’t stop him from screaming.  
  
Klaus covered his ears and backed away from him.  
  
“Shut up!”  
  
Klaus tripped and hit the ground. The ghost walked even faster. Klaus crawled backwards. He bumped into something soft and looked down.  
  
It was the body of a woman with curly blonde hair.  
  
_Why were there so many bodies?? ___  
  
Klaus pushed himself up.  
  
More ghosts passed though nearby boulders, each one locking eyes with Klaus. It didn’t make sense. There were too many. There were never this many ghosts in one location. Not even the mausoleum.  
  
Klaus ran in the opposite direction.  
  
He needed to shut them out. He needed…he needed something. Anything. Their wailing hit a higher pitch as more ghosts blocked Klaus off.  
  
He stopped in his tracks.  
  
They were everywhere; covered in blood and gore. They screamed and clawed, hands passing through his shoulders and head.  
  
Klaus curled up and closed his eyes. They were suffocating, smothering, closing in more and more until he couldn’t think.  
  
“BEN!” He yelled.  
  
Ben wasn’t there. None of them were there. They were gone. Was he dead? Did the machine kill him? Is this what the afterlife looked like for Klaus? Unable to escape the dead? He’d never be able to leave. Trapped. Trapped. Trapped.  
  
“Klaus?” Someone asked. The ghosts yelled his name, but this one whispered it in… confusion? Why did they sound confused? “Klaus!”  
  
Klaus forced himself to open his eyes and look up.  
  
A man in a dark hoodie had managed to get past some of the ghosts to kneel in front of Klaus.  
  
He was flanked by four other people. They all had blood on them, clearly dead, but they didn’t look as haunted as the others.  
  
“Are you—” The hoodie man was interrupted by his friend in a suit.  
  
“EVERYONE, SHUT THE HELL UP!” The ghost in the suit yelled. Klaus felt his eyes widen in surprise when the ghosts obeyed. They looked just as shocked as Klaus. The ghost in the suit looked back at ghost in front of Klaus. “Go ahead, Ben.”  
  
“Ben?” Klaus asked, barely a whisper. The hoodie ghost nodded.  
  
“Yeah, I’m Ben. Hey, Klaus. Are you— Is this where you came?”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“The machine,” The ghost in the suit said. “Is this where you came when you fell through the machine?”  
  
“Y-yeah. Who are you?” Klaus said. The man in the suit looked offended for a second.  
  
“I’m Five. Your brother.”  
  
“Oh.” Klaus blinked.  
  
Five frowned and pointed to each of the other ghosts nearby. “That’s Luther, Diego, and Allison.”  
  
Klaus stood. “But you’re dead. Why are you dead? Are you all…Are you all dead?”  
  
“It’s not a big deal,” Ben said. Klaus shook his head. Not a big deal? Ben hadn’t ever been an idiot but that was the dumbest thing he’d ever heard.  
  
“No. No, you can’t be dead. You were just—We were on a mission a-and—”  
  
“Klaus, you need to calm down,” The woman said. Allison. It was impossible. They couldn’t be. They couldn’t. “Klaus, look at me. Look at me, Klaus.”  
  
Allison took a step towards him and took up a spot beside Ben.  
  
_“I heard a Rumor you calmed down. You’re okay.” ___  
  
Klaus blinked. Yeah, yeah, of course, of course he was okay. His hands stopped shaking.  
  
Allison gave him a small smile.  
  
“Guys,” Five said, looking up at them. “The machine. We kept it, didn’t we? After Klaus left. Dad said he wanted to research it.”  
  
“Yeah, so? What does that matter?” Diego asked. “We have something else to focus on right now.” Diego gestured to Klaus.  
  
“If I can figure out how it works… We can send him back. We can stop the apocalypse.”  
  
Klaus raised his eyebrows. “What?”  
  
Five grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing Klaus being scared is so weird! Like, he's supposed to be loud and obnoxious, y'know? I hope you all enjoyed! <3


	5. I Never Said That I Want This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from "Monster" by Imagine Dragons

Since they’d walked into the warehouse, the monsters inside him hadn’t stop writhing and fighting. Fighting him. They wanted out.  
  
It wasn’t until he saw the machine that he understood why.  
  
It was huge – reaching to the ceiling and equally wide. But that wasn’t the interesting part. No, it was the flashing and warping blue lights that glowed from its center. The machine even had its own gravity as it pulled light-weight objects into the blue light. The stuff quickly disappeared after the machine ate it.  
  
“Can we unplug it?” Klaus asked. Ben saw Luther send him an exasperated look. Luther didn’t have an excuse to be exasperated. Luther didn’t have a clue as to what the machine was. But he was Number One, so he sent the looks anyway.  
  
“It’s not a hair dryer,” Luther snapped. It was moments like this Ben questioned why Luther was Number One. Probably his expert deduction skills. Ben rolled his eyes at the thought.  
  
“No, Luther,” Five said. "He’s on to something." Five took a step closer to the machine.  
  
The monsters in Ben fought harder as Five walked to the machine.  
  
Ben crossed his arms across his torso.  
  
“Five, step back,” Luther ordered. It was futile and all of them knew it. Five wouldn’t listen. It wasn’t his style.  
  
Five ignored Luther and approached the machine. After a moment's hesitation, Luther followed. As soon as Luther and Five were out of sight, Diego reached out and pushed Allison, Klaus and Ben back.  
  
Ben closed his eyes and bit down on his lip. The monsters were under his control – not the other way around. It was fine. He could keep it together.  
  
Five could shut off the machine. He’d shut it off and all of them would go home.  
  
“Ben!” Ben opened his eyes and looked at Five who was peeking around the machine. “You speak Latin, right?”  
  
Ben shook his head. “No.”  
  
“You’ve been taking classes though!”  
  
Ben sighed. “I can read a bit.”  
  
Five gestured him over and Ben felt the sudden urge to smack him. The monsters agreed with Ben.  
  
Instead of indulging – or maybe he still would – Ben brushed past Diego and walked over to where Luther and Five stood behind the machine.  
  
“This,” Five said, pointing to words scribbled in Latin on the back of the machine. “What does it say?”  
  
Ben glanced at the words before giving Five a bewildered look. “Who puts notes on a machine like this in Latin?”  
  
“The kind of person who builds this type of machine. He’s weird, Ben.”  
  
“Can you read it or not?” Luther asked. Ben rolled his eyes.  
  
“It says,” Ben squinted at it. Doctors may be known for bad handwriting, but this scientist could take the money. Ben pointed at one of the thick cords that was connected to the machine. “That one. Pull it out. It’s the power.” He shot Luther a smug look. “You can unplug it. Like a hairdryer.”  
  
"Wait, no!" Five said.  
  
Luther stopped listening once he got the order. He jerked the cord out.  
  
“What the hell!” Five yelled. “I didn’t tell you to—”  
  
The machine started vibrating and the creaking metal started to bend.  
  
“Shit,” Five whispered. He turned to Ben and Luther. “Run!”  
  
As soon as they started running for the others, Five disappeared and reappeared with Diego, Allison and Klaus. Then they were running too.  
  
Luther was bigger than Ben by, well, a lot, but Ben was faster and quickly took the lead.  
  
With the others running ahead, Five looked back at Luther and Ben.  
  
“No!” Five yelled.  
  
Ben looked behind him.  
  
Luther was in the air. The machine was sucking him in.  
  
Ben didn’t think.  
  
Two tentacles wrapped around Luther and threw him towards the others. He landed on Five and they both hit the ground.  
  
But Ben was still too close.  
  
The machine’s gravity grew stronger and Ben disappeared into the machine.  
  
  
  
  
  
In the quick time he had before the machine ate him, Ben had two guesses as to what would happen to him – dismemberment or disintegrate.  
  
Neither happened.  
  
Ben hit the ground, landing on his shoulder. Sand billowed up around him and he did a double take. This was definitely not supposed to be there. Concrete, yes, but sand, no.  
  
The monsters had calmed down which meant the machine was gone. Or rather, he was gone.  
  
He pushed himself up and looked around.  
  
Flames engulfed a nearby structure and burnt vehicles were lines up as if in traffic. The road they were on was cracked.  
  
Ben stood.  
  
“Klaus!” He yelled. He spun, listening as his voice faded to no reply. “Klaus!”  
  
Part of him knew no one would reply. Wherever the machine had put him, Klaus and the others hadn’t followed. No one had.  
  
Ben started walking along the cars.  
  
Most carried charred passengers, burnt to the point none of them could have survived.  
  
Ben covered his mouth with his sleeve.  
  
He looked away from the bodies and scowled.  
  
The buildings around him, though destroyed, were familiar. He saw them every morning when he looked out his window.  
  
Ben turned.  
  
A crumbled building filled the space where the Academy should have stood.  
  
Ben’s arm dropped from his face and gaped at the rubble.  
  
They’d-they’d just been there. They’d just been there that morning. How could it be gone?  
  
He pushed himself forward, into the remains of the Academy. The concrete and brick were piled in many places that Ben had to climb over.  
  
“Klaus! Mom!”  
  
Ben stepped on a loose rock and it shifted. He had a split second to think a string of profanities, before he and the rock tumbled down to the base of the pile of rubble.  
  
He pushed himself up with a groan.  
  
Just his luck.  
  
He glanced beside him and silently promised he’d never admit to the shriek that escaped him.  
  
Inches in front of him was a dead man crushed under the rubble.  
  
Ben crawled away from him then pushed himself to standing.  
  
Another dead man was close by, followed by a woman then a third man.  
  
Ben stared at them. He was used to seeing bodies – his job in missions dealt with them constantly – but these…there was something unnerving about them. They were almost familiar.  
  
Ben took a hesitant step towards them. The furthest man had tattoos on each of his hands and a circular one on his forearm.  
  
Ben stopped.  
  
He knew that tattoo. It was more familiar than he liked.  
  
“Klaus…” He whispered. Were all of them…  
  
Ben looked at the other bodies and suddenly he couldn’t breathe.  
  
They couldn’t all be dead. They couldn’t—  
  
“Hello, Ben,” a silky voice said from behind him. “Or do you prefer the Horror?” Ben spun, his heart freezing in his chest. "I'm the Handler."  
  
The monsters coiled and twisted under his skin.  
  
"Ben. I'm B-"  
  
Before he could finish his sentence, the Horrors decided to step in.  
  
They sprang from his chest and wrapped around the Handler. Ben couldn't stop them.  
  
Then blood was everywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this thing at like 3am so if there are any typos, please let me know! I think this chapter gets the award for the hardest to write - Ben need more content on the TV show!  
> Oh, and btw, the reason Five's body wasn't found is because he took Ben's place. So, he died before the apocalypse.  
> Hope you all enjoyed! Thank you for reading!!
> 
> _Next Chapter: Vanya ___


	6. Here's To The Damned To The Lost And Forgotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title from "People Like Us" by Kelly Clarkson

“Can we get closer?” Vanya asked, looking up at Reginald.  
  
When the others had gone into the warehouse, Vanya and Dad had remained outside on a sidewalk across the street. People  
  
“We can see fine from here,” Dad said.  
  
“What if they need our help?” Vanya asked, already knowing his answer.  
  
“No.” He pulled his coat tighter around him and watched the building as if it had personally disappointed him.  
  
A horde of people in white lab coats ran out of the building. Vanya barely caught a glimpse of Allison before the doors shut again.  
  
Vanya wasn’t useless. She could help them. Normal people did important things everyday – she didn’t see how she was any different. But Dad disagreed.  
  
Vanya turned her attention back to the building as smoke started to leak from the building. It swirled up into the sky in inky black tendrils.  
  
Dad watched with a look of boredom.  
  
“Dad.”  
  
He sighed and glanced at her. “Yes?”  
  
The Umbrella Academy dealt with people, criminals. They didn’t ever go on missions that involved fire. “They need to get out. A burning building is—”  
  
“I’m aware of the state of the building.”  
  
Vanya balled her hands into fists. She didn’t get a chance to respond before a man was tapping on Dad’s shoulder. It was enough to temporarily distract her.  
  
No one touched Dad.  
  
He turned, forgetting Vanya, and smacked the man on the shoulder with his cane.  
  
“What do you think you’re doing?” Dad demanded. Vanya shot a look back to the burning building.  
  
The man rubbed his arm, but still smiled. “Are you Reginald Hargreeves? The inventor and leader of the Umbrella Academy? My daughter would love your autograph—”  
  
Vanya stopped listening. Any second Dad would shut the man down and Vanya would lose her window.  
  
Before she could talk herself out of it, Vanya darted across the street.  
  
“Number Seven!” Dad yelled. Vanya ignored him and ran into the building.  
  
She sprinted through the lobby. Doors covered the back wall, but only one had smoke seeping out from beneath it.  
  
When she opened the door, it wasn’t the scene she was expecting.  
  
Rather than a raging fire, she saw Luther and Diego batting furiously at a bunch of fiery cords while Ben, Allison and Five watched from a distance, arms crossed.  
  
The cords were on fire. Fifteen minutes and they’d managed to set it on fire.  
  
A huge machine dominated most of the space in the room. Bright blue light lit up its center.  
  
“—in your life?” Five was yelling. “Just one intelligent thought?”  
  
Luther stopped smacking the fire and turned to Five with a glare.  
  
“You told me to pull out the cord!” Luther snapped. Without him, the fire was growing.  
  
“And you grabbed the wrong one, idiot!”  
  
“Luther!” Vanya said, pointing at his leg that was now on fire. Instead of paying attention to Luther’s leg, Vanya’s siblings turned to her.  
  
“What are you doing here?” Five and Luther yelled together.  
  
Klaus chose that moment to run into the room with a fire extinguisher. He put out the flame on Luther then the original fire.  
  
Luther muttered a quick thanks.  
  
“We still have a problem, guys,” Ben said as the last of the flames died. He pointed to the machine as it out an unholy screech.  
  
Vanya covered her ears.  
  
“What is that thing?” She yelled. Everyone, except Five, shrugged. Five just rolled his eyes.  
  
“It’s a problem. A really big problem.” He turned to Luther and gave him a look one might give a misbehaving child. “Now, listen closely. I need you to unplug this cord, got it?”  
  
Luther frowned. He walked over and jerked out the cord.  
  
After a second, the machine’s noise quieted to a low whir and Vanya uncovered her ears.  
  
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Five asked.  
  
Vanya walked over the machine.  
  
The blue wasn’t as bright as the machine died down. While before it had been a light, now it looked more like a liquid.  
  
Looking back, she realized how stupid it was, but she was twelve and lacked impulse control.  
  
She reached her hand into the blue liquid.  
  
As soon as she touched it, the machine seemed to come back to life. The light came back with sudden force and the screeching of the metal turned to a roar.  
  
“What the— Vanya, no!” Five yelled. Vanya tried to step away from it, but she couldn’t move. “Get back!”  
  
“Luther, kill it!” Klaus said.  
  
She tried to get away from it, she really did, but as soon as she moved, the machine pulled, and Vanya fell.

As soon as the machine had pulled her in, it dropped her.  
  
She fell from a few feet up and faceplanted in the grass.  
  
The first thing she noticed was the silence. Everything was quiet. Not the tense silence after Luther and Diego argued or the whisper of cars driving past the academy when she was supposed to be asleep.  
  
It reminded her of when the others would go out on missions and she’d sit outside in the courtyard. Sometimes Mom would sit with her. They only listened to a bird in a nearby tree or bugs rustling in the flowerbed. They’d stay outside until either the sun went down or the others came home.  
  
The peaceful surroundings made her heart beat even faster. It was too calm.  
  
The second thing she noticed was the lack of her siblings.  
  
Vanya pushed herself to her feet. Trees and shrubbery were strategically placed around a walking path and a playground.  
  
She frowned. She didn’t remember a park in the area. If there had been one, she and her siblings would have snuck out to see it.  
  
“Ben?” she called. “Five?” Her voice sounded wrong as it pierced the easy silence.  
  
She didn’t even see the building she’d been in.  
  
Her siblings had to be around somewhere. The machine had just acted as a portal of some sort. Worst case scenario, she was in a county or two away from the Academy. She’d be back in no time. They were looking for her; they would find her.  
  
With a quick glance around, Vanya started off in the direction she assumed lead to the road.  
  
The further she walked the more uneasy she became. Parks were supposed to have people and yet she hadn’t seen anyone.  
  
The park opened up to the road and Vanya froze.  
  
Cars were backed up as far as she could see. Many had crushed metal where another vehicle had hit it.  
  
But the most horrifying part was the bodies. Everywhere she looked, bodies covered the ground. Some reached out to each other and others were alone. Most of them still had their eyes open, staring at nothing.  
  
Vanya’s heart stuttered in her chest.  
  
She only had a second to think about the people in front of her, before her thoughts turned to her siblings.  
  
While she hadn’t recognized the park, she recognized the street she was on. It wasn’t far from the Academy. Whatever killed these people could have reached the Academy. She didn’t know how long she’d been in the machine and who’s to say her siblings hadn’t gone home after she disappeared?  
  
Vanya took off at a run.  
  
She tried not to look at the people as she passed. No, she wasn’t a member of the Umbrella Academy, but this was her family and she understood a mission. Right now, hers was making sure they were safe.  
  
Vanya didn’t stop when she reached the gate of the Academy. She pushed past and barreled into the building.  
  
It looked the same as when she’d left that morning, but it was much too quiet. Her siblings weren’t quiet.  
  
Vanya jogged through the house.  
  
“Five?” she said. Her voice echoed against the walls, but no one replied. “Ben?”  
  
She stepped into the living room and dread filled her chest.  
  
Someone had broken into the Academy.  
  
Four people were on the floor, killed by the same thing that killed the people outside.  
  
The closest man was a giant.  
  
A short distance from him was a man in all black and covered in sheathed knives. He at least looked dressed for a robbery, unlike the woman beside him.  
  
She was dressed nice and didn’t look like the type of person who needed to break into anywhere, but obviously that was the wrong assumption.  
  
The last man wore a black suit with a ripped sleeve.  
  
Vanya frowned as her gaze moved to a circular tattoo on the man’s arm. It was too familiar. Blood roared in her ears as she moved closer.  
  
It was a black umbrella inside a thin circle.  
  
The air froze in her lungs.  
  
She looked behind her at each person on the floor. A man who looked impossibly strong, a man with an absurd number of knives, a woman who Vanya should have recognized and a man in a dark suit that looked managed to look annoyed even in this situation. She didn’t see Klaus or Ben. Maybe they were safe.  
  
Vanya knelt down. She didn’t understand how they all looked like adults, but she also didn’t understand how she was the only living person she’d seen. All that matter was these were her siblings and they were- they were-  
  
Vanya pushed the thought away.  
  
“Five,” she said, shaking his shoulders. He’d just hit his head. Any second he’d wake up. He couldn’t be gone. “Five!”  
  
When he didn’t respond, Vanya moved back.  
  
They weren’t just gone. Someone had to be around. Anyone.  
  
“Mom?” Vanya yelled. If anyone could survive, it was her. Some part of Vanya knew their mother couldn’t die. “Mom?”  
  
Vanya turned and instead of seeing her mother, she saw another woman, dressed in all black. She held a briefcase at her side and a cigarette in her hand.  
  
She gave a small wave.  
  
“Hello, Vanya.” The woman didn’t seem fazed by the carnage around them and her eyes seemed to see only Vanya and look through her at the same time. Her smile could only be described a predatory. “I’m the Handler.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all _so_ much for reading!! Your comments and kudos have made this story a ton of fun to write and share with all of you. I hope you enjoyed!! If you liked this, I have more Umbrella Academy fics posted!  
> Thank you especially to "L" and Hujwernoo! <3  
> Oh, and it's kinda late as I'm posting this, so I'll edit more tomorrow. If you see any glaring errors, please tell me and I'll get to it as soon as possible. Thank you again!!!  
> One last thing, this apocalypse was caused - inadvertently - by Klaus. In one draft of this chapter, Klaus lived and that's where this next snippet is from. It may help clear up some confusion this chapter may leave.  
> \---  
> Klaus didn’t mean to end the world. Klaus only wanted to be left alone.  
> Since his powers started working as a child, he hadn’t had a moment of peace. As he’d gotten older, the ghosts had left him alone more when he didn’t react as much and even made them disappear completely with some help. But then he got clean and more abilities came with it.  
> It was cool. He could levitate. That was kinda trippy. But not all of the abilities were so neat.  
> Now he could make the dead solid. He could bring them back. And they knew it.  
> All of the ghosts came back to him begging to be made real. They wanted to tie up loose ends that they’d left when they died.  
> And Klaus wanted silence. Maybe this was the way to get it once and for all.  
> So he let go.  
> The ghosts weren’t nice; they never had been. And Klaus could bring the ghosts to the real world, but he couldn’t get rid of them – he’d never figured that out. And the ghosts destroyed everything.  
> They ended the world.


End file.
